Death confronts us not unlike the historical battle scene that hangs on the wall of the classroom. It is our task to obscure or quite obliterate the picture by our deeds while we are still in this world.

My 'fear' is my substance, and probably the best part of me.

It is only our conception of time that makes us call the Last Judgement by this name. It is, in fact, a kind of martial law.

I hate everything that does not relate to literature, conversations bore me (even if they relate to literature), to visit people bores me, the sorrows and joys of my relatives bore me to the very soul. Conversation takes the importance, the seriousness, the truth, out of everything I think.

There was once a community of scoundrels, that is to say, they were not scoundrels, but ordinary people.

Anybody who preserves the ability to recognize beauty will never get old.

One advantage in keeping a diary is that you become aware with reassuring clarity of the changes which you constantly suffer.